Sydney Olympic thump five past Wollongong
A opportunistic goal inside the first minute from the boot of Illija Prenzoski was followed up by a scrambled finish from James Lawrence 10? minutes later leaving the Blues faithful howling their disapproval and last year’s grand final winners on cloud nine.
Things didn’t look any better for the Blues when club skipper Peter Zorbas came off in the 15th minute with a troublesome groin injury. Zorbas was replaced by new signing and former Sydney FC Under 20’s captain Chris Triantis.
In an amazing first 45 minutes, former Golden Boot winner Tolgay Ozbey then eased fears with two ?poacher like? finishes of his own.
Matthew Mayora then added his name to the goal sheet with a top shelf half volley on the hour mark before following that up with a neat header past Alex Augusto 7? minutes later after a pinpoint Chris Triantis free kick.
Sydney FC utility Adam Biddle then rounded out the scoring in the 87? minute in a game that won?t leave the minds of those who witnessed it for some time.
Olympic coach Aytek Genc praised the attacking performance of his men but was very unhappy at the casual defending.
?I am pleased with the character of the side, to go two down inside the first 15 minutes left us with a fair bit of work to do,? he said.
?I felt when we pulled it back to 2-1 we were good enough to go on with the job, it was just a matter of not trying to push the pass.
?We have a squad that oozes class and most of the boys fancy themselves as attackers, we just need to be more composed from the opening whistle.
?I felt we were a bit complacent and even though we went on with the job, the defence was not good enough.
?Against some of the stronger teams, say a Sydney United or a Marconi, if we give them a start we will get lapped.?
His counterpart Tony Pace acknowledged it was a learning experience for his youthful team.
?I was delighted with how we took the game to them and to go two goals up in that short space of time was fantastic,? he said.
?It is a hard way to learn but I know from what I saw in the sheds the boys are gutted.
?I wouldn?t say it?s panic stations yet, we just need to tighten our defence and that is what we will focus on at training this week.?
Bonnyrigg White Eagles will host Sydney Olympic on Wednesday evening in the Round 3 ?catch-up? match following the wet weather with admission free.
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic 5 (Tolgay Ozbey 20? 37? Matthew Mayora 60? 67? Adam Biddle 87?
Wollongong FC 2 (Illija Prenzoski 1? James Lawrence 11?)
Ground: Belmore Sports Ground
Sunday March 22 2009
Referee: Atila Stibinger
Assistants: Dave Christie & Scott Edeling
Sydney Olympic: 20.Sam EMMANOUIL, 4. Mirko JURILJ, 5.Michael CINDRIC, 7. Peter McPHERSON, 10.Anthony DOUMANIS, 11.Tolgay OZBEY, (17.Iain RAMSEY 78?) 15.Matthew MAYORA, (8.Paul WITHER 74?) 16.Jordan SIMPSON, 18.Adam BIDDLE, 22.Peter ZORBAS (Chris TRIANTIS 15?) 32.Xavier FORSBERG
Unused Substitutes: 1.Michael TURNBULL, (rgk) 6.Emmanuel GIANNAROS
Yellow cards: 5.Michael CINDRIC 11? 11.Tolgay OZBEY 48?
Wollongong FC: 1.Alex AUGUSTO, 2.Kieran DEANE, 3.Jamie PITT, 4.Alfredo ESTEVEZ, (7.Josh PRICE 73?) 5.David ABEL, 6.Illija PRENZOSKI, 8.Samet KAYNAK, 9.Steve HAYES, 10.Ballamodou CONDE, (18.Steve DIMITRIEVSKI 51?) 15.James LAWRENCE, 17. Chris NATHANIEL (14.Daniel CORTEZ 51?)
Unused substitutes: 20.Matt BRANDALISE (rgk), 13.Cory GAMIERO
Yellow cards: 4.Alfredo ESTEVEZ 68?, 5.David ABEL 88?
Red cards: 5.David ABEL 90?
Player points:
3- Matthew Mayora (SO)
2- Tolgay Ozbey (SO)
1- Adam Biddle (SO)
-By Andrew Prentice
